New Mexico Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero, the fourth education secretary under Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, is a finalist in New Mexico State University’s search for a new president.
NMSU, the state’s land-grant university with over 14,700 students at its Las Cruces campus and more than 21,000 students statewide, has been without a permanent president since April 2023, when Chancellor Dan Arvizu resigned. Arvizu’s departure followed a tumultuous period marked by the cancellation of the basketball season due to hazing allegations and multiple lawsuits against the university.
Romero, who has been leading PED since February 2023, is among the contenders vying for the top position at his alma mater. Not only was Romero a student of educational leadership, but he also has a history of service at NMSU as a former regent and professor, Romero could soon return to the university in a different capacity.
10 years ago New Mexico’s education system was being managed by then-Secretary Hanna Skandera. She was appointed to the office in 2010 by former Governor Susana Martinez. Skandera’s leadership lasted seven years, with her stepping down from the role in 2017. Martinez then appointed Christopher Ruszkowski to the post at the end of August 2017. Ruszkowski served until the end of the Martinez administration.
Karen Trujillo was appointed by the newly sworn-in Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on January 24, 2019. Just six months in, on July 29, 2019, Lujan Grisham’s office terminated Trujillo.
Lujan Grisham’s office appointed the next secretary, Ryan Stewart, on August 12, 2019. Stewart resigned August 20, 2021, citing family and health.
On July 29, 2021, Lujan Grisham appointed Kurt Steinhaus to lead the Public Education Department as secretary designate. On July 2, 2022, the state Senate approved him as the official secretary. Steinhaus would serve until his retirement in 2023.
Lujan Grisham then appointed Secretary of Education Romero to lead the department on February 21, 2023.
If Romero steps down to assume the presidency at NMSU, the governor will need to appoint an interim secretary, with any permanent replacement requiring confirmation by the state senate. Whoever takes the job will be the fifth education secretary in New Mexico during Lujan Girsham’s term..
The other four finalists for the NMSU presidency include distinguished leaders from various institutions across the country.
Valerio Ferme, vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Cincinnati
Brian Haynes, a vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of California, Riverside
Monica Lounsbery, dean of the College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Long Beach
Neil MacKinnon, a professor in the School of Public Health and former provost at Augusta University.
A search committee has been working to help choose the next president.
The president position at NMSU offers a salary with a base of $500,000.
The university’s Board of Regents is scheduled to interview the finalists in August, with campus visits planned for September. The board expects to announce the new president by the end of September, concluding a search that began in March 2024.
